Noah Wyle races to ‘Snake & Mongoose’

To play Mattel exec who elevated drag racing

Noah Wyle has joined the cast of drag-racing biopic “Snake & Mongoose” to play the toy-company executive who created the sport’s first commercial tie-in.

Jesse Williams and Richard Blake star as drag racing legends Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen, who were longtime friends as well as rivals. Wayne Holloway will direct from a script he penned with Alan Paradise.

Wyle will play Arthur Spear, the executive of Mattel, Inc. in the 1970’s who decides to put its new Hot Wheels logo on Prudhomme’s and McEwen’s dragsters, creating 200- mph billboards and the first non-automotive sponsor in a racing sport. The additional sponsorship money allowed the drivers to upgrade their cars and elevate the sport enormously.

Stephen Nemeth, who recently produced the top-selling Sundance pic “The Surrogate,” will produce along with Robin Broidy through Nemeth’s Rhino Films and Broidy’s Entertainment Universe, which will also finance. Prudhomme and McEwen will serve as exec producers along with Paradise. Williams is set to co-produce.

The filmmakers have also partnered with the National Hot Rod Association, which will help with marketing.